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Denise and Gerald Fitzgerald Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Denise and Gerald Fitzgerald Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$47k
Granted FY2025still arriving
22
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$52kYouth Development$35kHealth$33kReligion$11kHuman Services$10kPhilanthropy$10kArts & Culture$6kHousing & Shelter$4kOther$0
02FY2025 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k20 grants · $27k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
$515
Median grant
8
States reached
$2.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ARRUPE COLLEGE OF LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO$10,000
FORDHAM UNIVERSITY$10,000
CHRIST THE KING JESUIT COLLEGE PREP$7,500
ST ISAAC JOGUES CHURCH$5,700
DANIEL MURPHY SCHOLARSHIP FUND$2,500
SOUTHWEST WILDLIFE CONSERVATION CENTER$2,500
UNITED WAY$2,000
HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION$1,500
COVENANT HOUSE IL$1,000
A LEG TO STAND ON$542
PENN STATE$515
HINSDALE JUNIOR WOMAN'S CLUB$504
THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY$500
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF COLLIER COUNTY$500
NEW YORK ROAD RUNNERS$300
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–25, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $100 → 14%NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE UNITED STATES SOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL: $250 → 11%HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION: $2k → 17%BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK: $2k → 15%HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION: $2k → 17%BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK: $271 → 15%HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION: $2k → 17%HEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION: $500 → 17%COVENANT HOUSE ILLINOIS: $1k → 14%MISERICORDIA FOUNDATION: $200 → 14%JOURNEYCARE: $150 → 14%LEARNING BRIDGE EARLY EDUCATION CENTER: $1k → 14%LYDIA HOME ASSOCIATION: $500 → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
IA
OH
PA
CT
CA
MO
KY
VA
MD
AZ
TN
NC
DC
MS
AL
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

57%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$95k · 22 repeat orgs$71k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

22 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 13 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
93

Total granted

$95k
$42k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+3%

Still filing today

77%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 36% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $29k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthHuman ServicesEducationPhilanthropyArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • UL
    UNION LEAGUE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS
    4× · 2020–2023 · $32k · revenue +39%
  • FU
    Fordham University
    2× · 2024–2025 · $10k · revenue +9%
  • LU
    LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
    3× · 2020–2023 · $5k · revenue +23%

Funded once

  • NH
    NEIGHBORHOOD HEALTH CLINIC INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +139%
  • ST
    ST THERESA CATHOLIC CHURCH
    one grant, 2022 · $3k
  • FO
    Friends of Florence
    one grant, 2022 · $3k · revenue +20%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Uchicago Medicine Network Inc

Uchicago medicine network, inc. supports and encourages health and human service by providing support, directly or indirectly to ingalls memorial hospital, the university of chicago medical center, and other related tax-exempt…

Health
2
Junior Achievement of Chicago

To inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy

International
3
Chicago Public Education Fund

The chicago public education fund (the fund) is a nonprofit organization that improves public schools in chicago by investing in the talented educators who lead them.

Education
4
Saint Xavier University

Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…

Education
5
Curesearch for Children's Cancer

Curesearch's mission is to fund & support targeted & innovative cancer research with measurable results, & to be the authoritative source of information & resources for all those affected by children's cancer. see schedule o for…

Health
6
National Opinion Research Center

See schedule onorc at the university of chicago conducts research and data science on critical societal issues to guide decision-making and the development of programs and public policy. our experts identify relationships and trends, and…

Social Science
7
International Biomedical Research Alliance

Our mission is to invest in and accelerate the development of the most promising future leaders in biomedical research with global impact.

Health
8
University Family Physicians Inc

Engage actively and continuously in medical research, education and training in the practice of medicine in conjunction with the department of family medicine of the indiana university school of medicine and indiana university…

—
9
Gastro Intestinal Research Foundation Inc

The GI Research Foundation works to treat, prevent, and cure digestive diseases. In collaboration with the physicians and scientists at the University of Chicago Digestive Diseases Center, we fund innovative clinical and laboratory…

Health
10
The Chicago Scholars Foundation

Chicago scholars is transforming the leadership landscape of our city by resolving the fundamental barriers to success for academically driven, first generation college students from under-resourced communities.

Education
11
Lurie Children's Surgical Foundation Inc

Provide pediatric and subspecialty surgical, research, and educational services.

—
12
Union Health System

To serve our communities by provding innovative and compassionate healthcare.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Breakthrough Urban Ministries Inc; the most unlike its peers is Shade Family Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

78 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 78 of the 130 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
77/78
Grantees still filing
44/78
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ARRUPE COLLEGE OF LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO: $10,000 · OtherARRUPE COLLEGE OF LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGOEVANS SCHOLARS FOUNDATION: $9,250 · OtherEVANS SCHOLARS FOUNDATIONCHRIST THE KING JESUIT COLLEGE PREP: $7,500 · OtherCHRIST THE KING JESUIT COLLEGE PREPST ISAAC JOGUES CHURCH: $5,700 · OtherST ISAAC JOGUES CHURCHUNITED WAY HUSKY PROGRAM: $4,000 · OtherUNITED WAY HUSKY PROGRAMDANIEL MURPHY SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $3,500 · OtherCOVENANT HOUSE IL: $3,000 · OtherST THERESA CATHOLIC CHURCH: $2,500 · OtherSHELTER INC: $3,267 · OtherSOUTHWEST WILDLIFE CONSERVATION CENTER: $2,500 · Other+76 more: $23,781 · Other+76 moreUNION LEAGUE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS: $31,651 · Youth DevelopmentUNION LEAGUE BOYS AND …A LEG TO STAND ON INC: $1,952 · Youth DevelopmentA LEG TO STAND ON INC+1 more: $250 · Youth DevelopmentNEIGHBORHOOD HEALTH CLINIC INC: $10,000 · HealthNEIGHBORHOOD HE…BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $5,800 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UN…IMERMAN ANGELS: $2,140 · HealthIMERMAN ANGELSRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $1,760 · HealthRehabilitation …ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $1,100 · HealthTHE JOSH BURKS FOUNDATION: $1,000 · Health+8 more: $1,691 · Health+8 moreFordham University: $10,075 · EducationFordham Unive…LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: $5,250 · EducationLOYOLA UNIVER…THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY: $2,125 · EducationTHE NEWBERRY …SAN MIGUEL FEBRES CORDERO SCHOOL INC: $1,515 · EducationSAN MIGUEL FE…+4 more: $781 · EducationHEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION FKA HEALTH NET FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesBLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK INC: $1,817 · Human ServicesCOVENANT HOUSE ILLINOIS INC: $1,000 · Human ServicesCHILD CARE CENTER OF EVANSTON INC: $1,000 · Human ServicesLYDIA HOME ASSOCIATION: $500 · Human Services+4 more: $700 · Human ServicesFriends of Florence: $2,500 · Arts & CultureTHE IRISH GEORGIAN SOCIETY INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureUNITING VOICES: $1,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $58 · Arts & CultureROSECRANCE FOUNDATION INC: $1,600 · PhilanthropyPLEDGELING FOUNDATION: $1,200 · PhilanthropyST BALDRICK'S FOUNDATION INC: $460 · PhilanthropySwim Across America Inc: $305 · PhilanthropySHADE FAMILY FOUNDATION: $176 · Philanthropy+1 more: $100 · Philanthropy
Other$74,998Youth Development$33,853Health$23,491Education$19,746Human Services$10,017Arts & Culture$4,558Philanthropy$3,841

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUNION LEAGUE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS: $31,651 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetFordham University: $10,075 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD HEALTH CLINIC INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $5,800 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: $5,250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHEALTHNETWORK FOUNDATION FKA HEALTH NET FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDANIEL MURPHY SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSHELTER INC: $3,267 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFriends of Florence: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSOUTHWEST WILDLIFE CONSERVATION CENTER: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIMERMAN ANGELS: $2,140 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NEWBERRY LIBRARY: $2,125 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetA LEG TO STAND ON INC: $1,952 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK INC: $1,817 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRehabilitation Institute of Chicago: $1,760 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOLLIER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $1,750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetROSECRANCE FOUNDATION INC: $1,600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $1,550 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAN MIGUEL FEBRES CORDERO SCHOOL INC: $1,515 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPLEDGELING FOUNDATION: $1,200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $1,100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOVENANT HOUSE ILLINOIS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE IRISH GEORGIAN SOCIETY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetORDER OF ST CAMILLUS FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNITING VOICES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHILD CARE CENTER OF EVANSTON INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetChicago Bible Society: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBRAINUP INC: $513 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $503 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUJA FEDERATION OF GREENWICH INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLYDIA HOME ASSOCIATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST BALDRICK'S FOUNDATION INC: $460 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD VISION INC: $400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLUMINARTS CULTURAL FOUNDATION THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB OF CHICAGO: $400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDONORSCHOOSEORG: $371 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSwim Across America Inc: $305 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK ROAD RUNNERS INC: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE KINDNESS CAMPAIGN: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRYAN BANKS ACADEMY: $260 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER NAPLES INC: $258 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF CHICAGO: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPERU VOLUNTEER AMBULANCE SERVI: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE US SOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO MEDIA PROJECT: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR AFRICA: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH URBAN MINISTRIES INC: $218 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $208 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCESCO'S HEART: $200 over 1y, 0.2% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

AbbVie FoundationThe Chicago Community…Circle of Service Fou…United Way of Metropo…Chubb Charitable Foun…John D and Catherine …Polk Bros Foundation …Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Arthur J Gallagher Fo…Motorola Solutions Fo…Edmond and Alice Ople…Full Circle Foundation
AbbVie FoundationIL23.6× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: AbbVie Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust · Circle of Service Foundation · United Way of Metropolitan Chicago Inc · Chubb Charitable Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Polk Bros Foundation Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Arthur J Gallagher Foundation · Motorola Solutions Foundation · Edmond and Alice Opler Foundation · Full Circle Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Denise and Gerald Fitzgerald Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Denise and Gerald Fitzgerald Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
17report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Denise and Gerald Fitzgerald Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Denise and Gerald Fitzgerald Family Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 130 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Denise and Gerald Fitzgerald Family’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home